Reading for EAL, SEND and low-level literacy learners

In an increasingly globalised world, multilingualism is becoming the norm in classrooms around the world. However, despite the rich linguistic and cultural experiences EAL and multilingual learners bring into their education, they face specific challenges, particularly in reading and learning to read in English. It is a complex and dynamic process that involves a few intertwining components, such as phonemic awareness, learning new vocabulary, improving fluency and accuracy, comprehension skills as well as motivation and enthusiasm for reading and developing literacy.

To overcome any reading challenges, EAL learners along with any SEND and low-level literacy learner need targeted support and particular strategies in the classroom and at home. These might include pre-reading activities to activate prior knowledge as well as encouraging reading for pleasure and curriculum purposes of different genres.